Homological Group Theory [Paperback]

Eminent mathematicians have presented papers on homological and combinatorial techniques in group theory. The lectures are aimed at presenting in a unified way new developments in the area.In 1977 several eminent mathematicians were invited to Durham to present papers at a short conference on homological and combinatorial techniques in group theory. The lectures, published here, aimed at presenting in a unified way new developments in the area.In 1977 several eminent mathematicians were invited to Durham to present papers at a short conference on homological and combinatorial techniques in group theory. The lectures, published here, aimed at presenting in a unified way new developments in the area.In 1977 several eminent mathematicians were invited to Durham to present papers at a short conference on homological and combinatorial techniques in group theory. The lectures, published here, aimed at presenting in a unified way new developments in the area. Group theory is approached from a geometrical viewpoint and much of the material has not previously been published. The various ways in which topological ideas can be used in group theory are also brought together. The volume concludes with an extensive set of problems, ranging from explicit questions demanding detailed calculation to fundamental questions motivating research in the area. These lectures will be of interest mainly to researchers in pure mathematics but will also prove useful in connection with relevant postgraduate courses.Preface; Introduction; 1. Traces and Euler characteristics Hyman Bass; 2. Groups of virtually finite dimension Kenneth S. Brown; 3. Free abelianised extensions of finite groups K. W. Gruenberg; 4. Arithmetic groups J.-P. Serre; 5. Topological methods in group theory Peter Scott and Terry Wall; 6. An example of a finite presented solvable group Herbert Abels; 7. SL3 (Fq[t]) is not finitely presentable Helmut Behr; 8. Two-dimensional Poincar? duality groups and pairs Robert Bieri and BlC$